Post by maddogblues on May 18, 2010 11:12:49 GMT -5
www.wwj.com/UM-Research--India-s-Black-Box-Voting-Vulnerable-T/6983830
Electronic voting machines in India, the world's largest democracy, are vulnerable to fraud, according to a collaborative study involving a University of Michigan computer scientist.
Even brief access to the paperless machines could allow criminals to alter election results, the seven-month investigation reveals.
In a demonstration video available at IndiaEVM.org, the researchers show two attacks against an actual Indian electronic voting machine. One attack involves replacing a small part with a look-alike component that can be instructed to steal a percentage of the votes from a candidate. Another attack uses a pocket-sized device to change the votes stored in the machine between the election and the public counting session, which in India can be weeks later.
"Almost every component of this system could be attacked to manipulate election results," said J. Alex Halderman, a UM assistant professor of computer science and engineering who, with his students, helped to develop the attacks to test the security of the system. "This proves, once again, that the paperless class of voting systems has intrinsic security problems. It is hard to envision systems like this being used responsibly in elections."
These research findings are at odds with claims made by the Election Commission of India, the country's highest election authority, the researchers say. The commission, which maintains that weaknesses found in other electronic voting systems around the world do not apply to India's, has called the Indian machines "fully tamper-proof."
Electronic voting machines in India, the world's largest democracy, are vulnerable to fraud, according to a collaborative study involving a University of Michigan computer scientist.
Even brief access to the paperless machines could allow criminals to alter election results, the seven-month investigation reveals.
In a demonstration video available at IndiaEVM.org, the researchers show two attacks against an actual Indian electronic voting machine. One attack involves replacing a small part with a look-alike component that can be instructed to steal a percentage of the votes from a candidate. Another attack uses a pocket-sized device to change the votes stored in the machine between the election and the public counting session, which in India can be weeks later.
"Almost every component of this system could be attacked to manipulate election results," said J. Alex Halderman, a UM assistant professor of computer science and engineering who, with his students, helped to develop the attacks to test the security of the system. "This proves, once again, that the paperless class of voting systems has intrinsic security problems. It is hard to envision systems like this being used responsibly in elections."
These research findings are at odds with claims made by the Election Commission of India, the country's highest election authority, the researchers say. The commission, which maintains that weaknesses found in other electronic voting systems around the world do not apply to India's, has called the Indian machines "fully tamper-proof."